


Iocarisne?

by Lucille_Bonnefoi



Series: Bleus, Rome antique [1]
Category: Men's Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Rome, Crack, Gladiators, I Tried, M/M, Partial Historical Accuracy, Unreliable Narrator, Voyeurism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-02-04 11:20:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18603502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucille_Bonnefoi/pseuds/Lucille_Bonnefoi
Summary: A really bad day for a Roman elder brother at a gladiatorial show.





	Iocarisne?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Meetmeatthecorner](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meetmeatthecorner/gifts).



> Written for her OTP as well as for mine. Part of the character dynamics in it is also inspired by her stories.  
> As (amateur) enthusiast of Classical Antiquity and supporter of l'Équipe de France, this what I ended up with.  
> Unbetaed. And I'm not a native speaker of English.  
> Constructive criticism will be welcome. If there are mistakes, be them historical or grammatical, please tell me.

Beniaminus, the little brother of Adrianus had never been to gladiatorial games before Adrianus took him to the amphitheatre a dozen months ago. But now he seems to be going there on a regular basis, likely even more frequently than Adrianus himself.

Today Adrianus suddenly feels like going to one, and that’s what he’s going to do. When offered to come along, Beniaminus more than eagerly complied. Since there is no gladiatorial games held at the __Flavian Amphitheatre__  today, they had to go to the __Ludus Magnus__  for a show instead.

They go inside without checking the list of gladiators, unlike most spectators. After finally finding their seats, the brothers settled down, adjusted their cushions and waited for the parade to begin.

Adrianus has been thinking he is going to enjoy the show today, until his sight accidentally reaches the level preserved for senators, and any good mood he has had is now ruined. Raphael, the annoying eldest son of the __gens__ Varena which is the rival of their clan, is wearing his unmerited __tunica laticlavia__  under his __toga__ and a broad damned smile on his face. A smile as bright as the one Raphael had on his face at his triumphant return to Rome with his military glory in __Gallia__. The smile is so bright it burns his eyes and he turns away abruptly. The costume, the place in the office and the seat in the arena that Raphael undeservedly occupied could have been his had his __gens__ , which is far older and nobler, not been in economic difficulties for decades.

He is still cursing under his breath, his hands balled into fists even when the gladiators enter the arena and begin their parade. It is the sound Beniaminus applauding that drag him back to reality.

Still pouting, he casts a glimpse at the gladiators and sees a tall dark-skinned gladiator so conspicuous that he literally stands out among his fellow gladiators. Clad in the most flamboyant costume and the shiniest jewels ever seen on a gladiator, with colourful feathers adorning his exotic helmet. __Polypus Paulus__. And then it suddenly clicks. Rumour has it that this gladiator is having a sexual relationship with Raphael for years. Maybe he should have checked the list of gladiators for today and skipped this one in the first place, he sighed to himself.

Truth to be told, __Polypus__ is not a bad fighter at all, despite Adrianus’ newly found desdain for him because of his involvement with Raphael. A __retiarius__ whose high cheekbones, lean but muscular limbs and torso are all painted in red and white patterns, he is impressively flexibly considering his height. Dodging multiple g _ _ladius__ blows from his heavily armed s _ _ecutor__ opponent from the beginning, he seems to be at disadvantage at first, with his movement getting slower and his skin scratched several times by the blade of his opponent’s g _ _ladius__. Peeping at Raphael nervously gripping his __toga__ makes Adrianus gloat a bit. But moments later the situation takes a turn as he takes advantage of his opponent’s momentary lapse and tangles the s _ _ecutor__ ’s helmet in his __rete__. Unable to see clearly, the s _ _ecutor__  wields his g _ _ladius__  aimlessly, only to be struck in the hand by the trident of the __retiarius__  and lost hold of his g _ _ladius__. With one graceful motion of his long leg, __Polypus__  pins his opponent onto the ground with his foot on top of the heavy shield trapping its owner. The __retiarius__  points his dagger to the throat of the fallen, and greets the crowd with a triumphant smile more annoying to than the one Raphael wore the day he returned to Rome from __Gallia__. The crowd goes crazy, first applauding the winner enthusiastically and then arguing whether or not to spare the loser. Glancing to his side, Adrianus finds his little brother enjoying the show, apparently really happy for __Polypus__ , which is even more frustrating.

This s _ _ecutor__  is spared in the end, but not very far from him someone else is less lucky. As soon as the condemned got his throat slit, people broke into the pit with cups in their hands to retrieve drops of freshly spilt blood, either intending to perform some magic ritual with it or to drink it as a medicine. The sight makes both of the brothers frown a bit.

When all of the fights are settled and the surviving gladiators retreated, the spectators begin to pour out of the arena as well. That is when Adrianus caught sight of Raphael at the entrance of the tunnel leading to the cells where the gladiators are accommodated. It reminds him of the rumours, and an idea struck him. What if Raphael is on the receiving end of the sexual intercourse with the gladiator? If that is the case, wouldn’t it be satisfying to be able to catch him right in the middle of his __infamia__? His pride as a senator would be blown and mocked by all of Rome, for his effeminacy is such a disgrace to the Senate. And what’s even better, if Adrianus is to be the one to reveal him, he might even earn the Emperor’s favour and restore glory for his __gens__. But before that, he wants to see the __infamia__ with him own eyes.

 Now, that is something to make up for a bad day of having to watch the damned Raphael and his damned gladiator showing off (albeit unintentionally) in his face. He tells Beniaminus to go home on his own, and Beniaminus seems somewhat relived for some reason, but he is too preoccupied with his own plan to pay attention.

He has to elbow his way through the crowd with difficulty, which irritates him. And when he finally makes it to the tunnel, a barbaric looking guard is there to block his way in. After trying all sorts pretexts without success, he ends up giving him coins instead, and it certainly works.

He walks down the dark corridor, and from the cells on both sides, pupils of different colors watch him with curiosity or hatred shown on faces of different skin tones. It makes his hair stand on end, as though those in the cells were predators who are planning to devour him at any time. It’s like setting foot in a world one doesn’t belong to. The further he walks into the dimly lit corridor, the more goosebumps it gives him.

Until he hears loud laughter from a distance. Accompanied by loud talking from the very same source.

“Now my dear boy, if it hurts, just scratch him as hard as you can, understood? Will make it easier, believe me.” Says a high voice with a strong accent.

“Does he ever do that to you, Paulus?” The second voice sounds very Roman.

“Of course he does. And he bites too.” Says a third voice with a different accent.

“Ah, and you don’t? Come on. What’s that look? Oh! You Romans! Soooooo pretentious! Ahahahaha ” Says the first voice again.

“Stop teasing us. You are scaring my boy. This is your gratitude for all the wine I brought you? ” Says said Roman, and a second later “Are you sure you are still alright? ” in a much gentler tone.

“This is my gratitude for you enslaving my land and my people. ”

“You are impossible.”

“You had it coming, you nasty Roman.”

“If I never come back again, there will be no wine for you.”

“And no __Gallic__  sexual instructions for you.”

“You two can fight as you like later, but you seem to forget someone here.”The third voice intervenes, his words hard to understand because of the heavy accent and his own laughter.

“That’s his fault though. And you, my little octopus, should join my rebellion. How can you side with the Roman? They don’t know how to enjoy the pleasure of sex from behind. And they don’t even know how to drink wine properly. They are so dull. Don’t you betray me. ”

And the loud laughter stops. “I know you are joking, Antos. But do remember that I will never ever betray you. You know that, don’t you.” Says the same voice that had been laughing seconds ago, but now it has become huskier and much more solemn. And the person ended his sentence with a kiss.

Now that the loud and irritating laughter stopped, Adrianus can hear muffled panting in the background. And as he walked towards the cell where all of the above conversation happened, he found a slave at a distance from the cell door, apparent on the lookout for his __dominus__ , Raphael. He has to hide himself in the shadow to avoid being seen by the lookout. The situation has gone out of hand, again.

From the distance he can see __Polypus Paulus__ lean down to passionately kiss a barbarian gladiator with long golden hair who is sitting on the mattress. And on the far end of the mattress a standing body, likely Raphael’s, is intertwined with another pale male body and moving in and out of the other’s body slowly but steadily. The other person is lying on the mattress with the top of his black curly haired head towards the cell door and his pale slender legs around Raphael’s waist, and he covers own mouth with his fist, muffling his own moans and whimpers. Obviously Adrianus isn’t seeing what he thought he would see here. Far from it. And what’s worse, after Paulus joins the long haired gladiator on the mattress, his view of Raphael and the one he’s penetrating gets blocked altogether. Now that he doesn’t see Raphael penetrated by another man, at least he could find out who is being penetrated by him. He might find evidence of __stuprum__.

But in contrast to the pair that are further inside the cell who are quiet, the pair of gladiators are irritatingly noisy. Their speaking voice, their laughter, their kiss and their moans are all too loud.  And the long haired gladiator even shamelessly licks the newly acquired scars scattered on Paulus’ body, one after another, drawing sharp hisses from him. Like beasts. Such uncivilized barbarians. They kiss with mouthfuls of wine without adding water and they kiss so fiercely, like there is no tomorrow (which is probably true considering how they live).

In all this annoying scene of debauchery, however, what suddenly makes the mouth of Adrianus fall agape has nothing to do with the pair of barbaric gladiators. It is, in fact, a pillow that accidentally moves because of a certain movement of someone. The pillow itself is very Roman and far from exotic. But Adrianus knows that pillow. Of course he recognizes the pillow. For it belongs to Beniaminus, his sweet little brother. Just like the dark curls and the pale skin that is lying on the mattress...

Adrianus is so dazed that he nearly faints at the site. But no, he can’t. He must stand up to protect his little brother. He rushed to the cell, pushing the lookout away.

He shouts, at the top of his lungs. “STOP!!! ” It shocks all four inside the cell, as it should.

The gladiators, disturbed from their pleasure, are the first ones to react. After asking “Who is it?” simultaneously, they stand up and walk to the door together, intending to throw the intruder away.

But before they could do anything to him, Beniaminus speaks. Though he is still panting, he speaks with such strength that Adrianus has never heard before in his voice.

He spins his body, pinning the embarrassed and slightly guilty looking Raphael to the mattress with his phallus still inside. And he speaks while riding his erection steadily. The long haired gladiator smiles proudly at him, encouraging him to continue.

With shaky voice, Beniaminus introduces his elder brother to everyone else, and vice versa. And he tells his brother his love for the senator, and that this is what he wants. His speech so convincing that he must have learned his elocution at school.

And it only makes him angrier. Who is this shameless boy? What happened to his timid little brother? What a fucked-up day. Is all of it a nightmare, or some strange prank? 

**Author's Note:**

> *The title can be tranlated into "Are you joking?"  
> *About personal names: I tried to use the more latinized versions of names, but in fact there is a bit of anachrony, because Benjamin/Beniaminus and Raphaël/Raphael were Biblical names of Hebrew origins and thus didn't exist in the early period of the Roman world. That's the problem with writing fanfictions, for sticking to the character names themselves might be in conflict with historical accuracy. On the other hand, though I did know Antonius is a Roman nomen of a gens, I didn't use it simply because I want to make Antoine a Gaul in this. The name Antos that I used was an archaeologically attested Gaulish name according to Jean-Paul Savignac's DICTIONNAIRE FRANÇAIS-GAULOIS. Polypus Paulus is the Latin translation of Paul the Octopus which is a reference to Paul's Italian nickname Il Polpo. And the name Paulus means little in Latin.  
> *Gladius is the latin word for a sword and rete a net. A retiarius is the type of gladiators that fight with nets, tridents, daggers and minimal body armours. The body paint part is likely another anachrony, for which I take full responsibility.  
> *Unlike Romans, Gauls were known to be unashamed of taking the passive role in a sexual act. This fact about them can be found in multiple Classical sources including Diodorus Siculus and Strabo.  
> *Romans drank their wine with water whereas Gauls didn't.  
> The meals offered to gladiators, though considered better than average Romans, does not contain any wine.


End file.
